Anxiety Grips Ministers Ahead of Cabinet Reshuffle
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President Goodluck Jonathan
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Ike Abonyi, Chuks Okocha and Senator Iroegbu
Anxiety over the possibility of being moved to less “significant”
ministries gripped ministers Tuesday ahead of today's Federal Executive
Council (FEC) meeting where a shake-up in the cabinet could be announced.
Signs that President Goodluck Jonathan would reconstitute his cabinet
were strengthened yesterday with the announcement of portfolios for the
two ministers – Professor Chinedu Nebo and Alhaji Kabiru Tanimu Turaki
(SAN) – who were sworn in on Monday.
While Nebo, from Enugu State, has been assigned the power ministry
portfolio to replace his kinsman, Prof. Bart Nnaji, who resigned from
the cabinet last August, Turaki will not be going to the Ministry of
Defence. He has been named the Minister of Special Duties in the
presidency.
Turaki’s kinsman from Kebbi State, Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, was sacked from the defence ministry last June.
It was gathered that with the allocation of a different portfolio to
Turaki, the Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade
(rtd), is now under consideration to take over as the Minister of
Defence, while the Minister of State, Mrs. Olusola Obada, who has been
holding the fort since Mohammed’s sack, may be reassigned in a cabinet
change.
Confirming the possibility of a cabinet shake-up, a source in the
presidency said if the announcement reshuffling portfolios is not made
today at FEC meeting, it would most likely be made when the president
returns from his trip to the United Kingdom and France.
The allocation of portfolios to Nebo and Turaki, as contained in a
statement yesterday by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation
(SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, did not douse tension among members of
the cabinet, as the non-assignment of a ministry to the defence
ministry lent credence to the possibility of a cabinet change.
According to Anyim, the two ministers are to assume duties immediately.
THISDAY learnt that many ministers spent the better part of yesterday making calls trying to ascertain their fate.
Several of the ministers, a source confirmed, reached out to their
governors, close friends and aides of the president, and Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains to safeguard their positions in the
cabinet.
Although the president has kept his decision on the cabinet a closely
guarded secret, those close to him say he is resolute about making
changes that will bring a breath of fresh air and deliver on his
programmes.
Source:This Day
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